Living in Fast Forward

"I’ve been livin' in fast forward
Hillbilly rockstar out of control
I’ve been livin' in fast forward
Now I need to rewind real slow."
                              - Living in Fast Forward by Kenny Chesney

Okay, I don't know about the "hillbilly rockstar" part, but in general I totally understand where my pal Kenny is coming from in this song.

I haven't written a blog post in a month!! Where the heck did February go? I seriously feel like February went in fast-forward. Hence my song choice for this post!

So, I am going to go ahead and give a brief synopsis of what has happened in the past month.

Me and My Birthday Cake!

First and foremost my birthday was at the beginning of this month! February 3rd. It was a fabulous celebration, I must say. My friends from home, "the Erin's" (as they have become known as here) cooked me a delicious dinner while I baked my own cake (of course). Then we went to Cloisters to meet up with my new friend Nikki and her boyfriend. Then we went to my previous place of employment, Footlights for a quick drink before heading to a live music bar called Jazz Bar to see Nikki's friends' band called The Last of Barrett's Privateers. They were amazing! I enjoyed their music a lot! They sound like a mix between Mumford & Sons and Fleet Foxes. All-in-all it was a perfect evening of friends and music!

View from Arthur's Seat!

A couple days later my friend Cat came for a visit for a few days and I took her around to lots of places in Edinburgh... including this freaky paranormal ghost tour of the underground vaults under the city! It was sooo scary but awesome!
Then Samantha came the day before Cat left so we went for a walk up to Arthur's Seat (climb numero dos!) and saw the beautiful view of the city from high, high up! The mixture of the bright sun (which is incredibly rare here) and the fog settling over the city made for great photographs!
Then Cat left :(. But I still had Samantha here for the next two weeks and we did SOO much! We went bowling with some co-workers from Cloisters for the cook's birthday! It was really fun!! I friggen love bowling!

Me and Sam at Loch Lubnaig in the Highlands

Then we went on a guided bus tour of the Highlands. We got to see beautiful snow covered mountains and LOCH NESS!! No sightings of the monster, Nessy, though. Maybe next time. That was a great tour... got to see some beautiful landscape of northern Scotland.

Beautiful Highland Mountain

THEN we went for a day trip to London! Absolute Craziness! To put this into perspective: going on a day trip to London from Edinburgh is like going to New York City from Kingston for a day! I know right? Insanity. But we did it! We got up at 4 am to be at the airport for 6 am then took an hour and a half flight to London then spent the entire day doing lots of great touristy things... the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Tower of London, The Beatles Shop, Sherlock Holmes Museum, and then (the main reason why we went to London) we went to a concert! It was one of my favourite singers, Sara Bareilles, opening for one of Sam's favourite bands, Maroon 5. It was sooo glorious! Such a great concert! But we had to leave early to catch the 9 HOUR bus ride back to Edinburgh which left at 11:15 pm and arrived in Edinburgh at 8:20 am. Needless to say.. it was a long day trip... lasting 29.5 hours to be exact!

Me and Sam at the London Tower

Castle Ruins in St. Andrews

Then we went on a day trip to St. Andrews which is a beautiful little Scottish town that is famous for all it's golf courses. We walked along the beautiful beach there and saw some beautiful buildings - including a castle of course. We also took a bus to a small fishing town called Anstruther where we ate fish and chips at the famous fish bar there. Apparently celebrities have gone there for their fish and chips, like Tom Hanks! Then back in St. Andrews we went to a pub and caught a traditional Scottish folk music session with all types of great musicians with various instruments.
For the rest of the time that Samantha was here, I had to work a lot so she had to so a lot of wondering around while I was at work but that suited her just fine in this beautiful city. We were able to enjoy a few nights out before she headed back to Canada - including going on the paranormal underground ghost tour (again, for me)! It's so cool!
And since she left on the 25th, I have been working A LOT! 6 days a week! But it's good because I am saving to buy a plane ticket for my visit home at the end of May for the arrival of a new nephew!

Me and My Fish and Chips

But I am definitely feeling the words of Kenny right now:

"I’m always runnin’, son-of-a-gunnin’
I’ve had a good time, it’s true
But the way I been goin’
It’s time that I tone it down just a notch or two"

I am going to continue working lots of shifts but I am definitely looking forward to taking it easy in-between. Cherish my days off.
Since this month has gone by so fast I am scared my time in Scotland is going to fly by!
So from now on I am vowing to myself to slow down and smell the roses.. or however that saying goes.

So long Fast-Foward February! Hello Mozy-On March!



Oh P.S: I am completely happy with my choice to quite Footlights and stay at Cloisters full-time. I love working at Cloisters more and more just as I love living in Edinburgh more and more!